Google's 20 per cent concept still alive and well

Engineers keeping their pet project day

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Google's much admired 20 per cent time - where engineers are allowed to spend a portion of their time on their own projects instead of their day jobs - has not been eroded by the company's explosive growth.

Product manager Aparna Chennapragada, who is moving from Google Labs to work on video search at the company, insisted that the concept of engineers taking on their own side-projects for a fifth of their working week has not diminished.

"The culture is still pervasive although the company has grown along with the range of people," she told TechRadar

"But it's very much present and the 20 per cent task gives people a chance to take a break from their day jobs."

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Although many of the projects gather big teams, like Google Goggles for instance, some or the projects arrive on Google Labs and even as final products due to a single person.